Dancing with the Stars finally rounds up some actual stars. Variety reports on a synergistic pact between The Weinstein Co, and one of Disney/ABC’s most popular programs:
In its largest promotion to date, Disney/ABC Unlimited — the sales group that handles Disney’s cross-platform media deals — has sealed a megapact with Weinstein that will embed content about “Nine” on a wide variety of shows, including ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Under the arrangement, a themed dance number on the Nov. 17 episode of “Stars” will be set to the “Nine” song “Be Italian.” Dancers will also wear outfits from the movie…
Also, on Nov. 22, a two-minute “Nine” trailer will run simultaneously “road-block” style on Lifetime, ABC Family, SoapNet, A&E and Bio. That same night, the trailer is set to run on ABC during the “American Music Awards.”
“We thought that the ABC Unlimited Group, with their multi-platform offerings, delivered the best demo that we were trying to find outside just the 30-second TV spot,” said Francois Martin, senior vice president of marketing at the Weinstein Co. “Environmentally, it’s a great fit.”
But wait, there’s more:
The customized campaign also includes a microsite on ABC.com devoted to the release of the movie, including a sweepstakes, streaming of the movie trailer and a half-hour “Making of ‘Nine'” special. Deal also extends to late night, where “Nine” will be integrated via a taped segment. ABC’s owned TV stations will also be involved, as well as ABC’s Times Square supersign.
“Look at the breadth of who we reach,” said Disney/ABC Unlimited senior VP Dan Longest. “We can reach any demo multiple times through any given day.”
This sounds like nine kinds of genius to me. Take a high-concept Tony-award-winning Broadway musical based on one of the greatest touchstone films in arthouse cinema history, and introduce it to a mass audience on their own comfortable home turf. In one fell swoop this removes the whiff of snottiness from the source material, and in the bargain if it manages to gloss up some otherwise tawdry evenings spent in front of the tube — all the better. This is exhibitionism in the best sense. When big name publicity machines stalk and flash me, I want to see something substantial under that raincoat. If the Nine package didn’t promise to make our eyes pop, it’s not likely TWC would be flaunting it from every vantage point.